The present invention relates to potato flakes and to a method for making the same.
The preparation of food products from a dough based on dehydrated potato products is well known. Snacks such as fabricated chips are among the most popular products which have been prepared from such doughs. The advantages of preparing such food products from a dough rather than from sliced, whole potatoes includes homogeneity or uniformity in the end food products and the ability to more closely control the separate steps involved in the preparation of the food products. When food products of this type are prepared from doughs based on dehydrated potato products and water, however, it has been found that the flavor of the resulting food product, though acceptable, is at least partially lacking in the characteristic potato flavor of corresponding products prepared from raw potatoes. For example, potato chips prepared by frying thin slices of raw potatoes generally have a more intense potato chip flavor than potato chips made by frying dough pieces which have been prepared by admixing dehydrated potato products and water.
The reason for these flavor differences between potato products prepared from fresh, raw potatoes and food products prepared from dehydrated potato products appears to be the degradative effect of the cooking and dehydration processes on the potato cells. Although the precise nature of this degradation is not known, it is theorized that a number of flavor precursors are either destroyed or significantly reduced in availability during processing. This leads to food products having less than desired potato flavor intensity.
Various efforts to improve the flavor of food products prepared with dehydrated potato products have focused on the addition of flavoring agents to the processed potatoes. Many of these flavoring agents have been produced from plant materials and various other natural ingredients. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,187, issued Jul. 20, 1971 to Liepa, discloses the addition of a flavor-enhancing agent selected from plants of the Cruciferae family (such as mustard, horseradish, rutabaga, or radish) to potato dough in order to increase the flavor thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,982, issued Dec. 31, 1974 to Sevenants, discloses the addition of a potato-chip flavor concentrate derived from fried potatoes to the dough. The process disclosed in Canadian patent No. 871,648, issued May 25, 1971 to Liepa, focuses on the addition of ascorbic acid to attain improved flavor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,230, issued Oct. 6, 1987 to Willard, discloses a potato flavor enhancing composition comprising a sugar component, an acidic component, a metallic flavor component, and a bitter flavor component.
Other flavoring efforts have focused on the addition of chemical flavoring agents, such as pyrazines. Examples of such chemical flavoring agents are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,315 issued Mar. 17, 1970 to Slakis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,211 issued Nov. 9, 1971 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,818 issued Jun. 4, 1974, both to Chang et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,772,039 and 3,829,582 to Guadagni et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,494 issued May 30, 1972 to Bentz et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,332 issued Apr. 21, 1981 to Withycombe et al.
Unfortunately, past efforts to restore natural potato flavor through the addition of such flavoring agents have generally provided less than optimal solutions. The addition of flavoring agents has often led to food products with xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d flavors uncharacteristic of natural potato. Furthermore, while the addition of such flavoring agents to food products requiring no further processing, such as mashed potatoes, may provide some flavor benefit, their use in intermediate products requiring further processing, such as to a potato mash or dough used to produce fabricated snack chips, can lead to volatilization and/or alteration of the flavoring agents in subsequent processing steps such as frying. This can lead to final food products having no improvement in flavor and/or an objectionable flavor unlike that of natural potato.
Because the addition of flavoring agents to compensate for the loss of potato flavor has not provided a wholly satisfactory solution, it would be desirable to provide dehydrated potato products that retain their natural potato flavor intensity during processing, and thus provide food products that more closely resemble those corresponding products prepared from fresh, raw, or cooked whole potatoes.
It would be especially desirable to provide fabricated chips from these dehydrated potato products.
During the processing of dehydrated potato products, the cellular structure of the potato is disrupted. This can cause snack food products made from the dehydrated potato products, such as fabricated chips, to have a much lower level of crispiness in comparison to corresponding products made from fresh, raw, or cooked whole potatoes. Prior efforts to increase the crispiness of snack food products made from dehydrated potato products have included the addition of fibrous cellulosic material to the snack food dough, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,102 issued Oct. 24, 1989 to Feeney et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,575, issued Aug. 26, 1980 to Saunders et al., teaches the addition of modified food starch to potato-based dough in order to increase the crispiness of French fries made therefrom.
Unfortunately, past efforts to improve food product crispiness have not been wholly successful when applied to the production of fabricated chips, resulting in fabricated chips that have less than the desired level of crispiness.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide fabricated chips having not only increased potato flavor intensity, but also a level of crispiness closer to that of sliced potato chips.
The present invention provides potato flakes having an increased level of potato flavor compounds. These flakes can be used to produce food products having improved potato flavor and improved texture. The potato flakes of the present invention comprise:
(a) less than about 70% broken cells; and
(b) an Amylose to Amylopectin ratio of from about 0.4 to about 4.
The flakes can be used to produce food products such as, but not limited to, mashed potatoes, potato patties, potato pancakes, French fries, potato sticks, breads, gravies, and sauces. The potato flakes of the present invention are especially preferred for use in making a fabricated chip having improved potato flavor intensity and improved texture.